Numerous types of planar articles having a uniform geometrical configuration, such as preformed, rectangularly shaped baby diapers, are often packaged in aligned, face-to-face relationship to each other in stacked rows within a dispensing carton. The carton is provided with a tear-away closure panel which, when removed, provides a substantial dispensing opening in one wall of the carton that places surface areas of each of the planar articles adjacent the dispensing opening within grasp by a user. Thus, the user has ready access to the forward most article in each row thereof to facilitate quick easy removal of individual ones of the articles from the carton.
Heretofore, known prior art cartons have employed a rather large rectangularly shaped dispensing opening whose width and length dimensions exceeded those of each of the rectangularly shaped articles. Consequently, regardless of the placement of the dispensing opening in the side of one of the carton walls, the articles have a tendency to accidentally fall out of the carton through the dispensing opening. Unintended dispensing of articles such as diapers is particularly common where it is necessary to frequently transport the opened cartons from place to place, within diapers bags or the like. Moreover, prior art cartons had a tendency to dispense multiple quantities of the articles therefrom, which added to the inconvenience of such cartons and was particularly annoying to users attempting to change a baby's diaper and having only one hand free to select and withdraw a diaper from the carton.
Consequently, there is a need in the art for a carton of the general type described above which is provided with a dispensing opening that controls the dispensing of articles therefrom in a manner to prevent accidental removal or loss of the articles from an opened carton while at the same time presenting a plurality of articles from which the user may choose and withdraw a single one of the articles so presented. The present invention satisfies this need and eliminates the defficiencies inherent in prior art type carton designs by providing a carton having a tear-away closure panel covering a dispensing opening specially configured and located in one wall of the carton to prevent accidental loss of articles from the carton while presenting at least portions of the face of each of the articles in a stack thereof adjacent the opening to a user in order to allow the user to grasp and withdraw any one of such articles so presented without inadvertantly removing additional quantities of the articles at the same time.
According to the present invention, a rectangularly shaped carton defined by top, bottom, front, back and end walls is adapted to contain a plurality of flexible, planar, rectangularly shaped articles which are arranged in aligned face-to-face abutting relationship to each other and in stacked adjacent rows such that the face of an article in each row thereof opposes the front wall of the carton. A preformed line of weakness in the front wall co-defines a tear-away closure panel and a dispensing opening in the front wall through which articles may be withdrawn from the carton once the closure panel is torn away. The dispensing opening extends vertically and includes at least one vertical dimension greater than the longest edge of the face of one of the planar articles and another vertical dimension less than such longest edge. Edge sections in the front wall defining the dispensing opening extend in a direction oblique with respect to the edges of the articles within the carton and overlap at least portions of the face of each of the articles adjacent the front wall whereby to allow withdrawal of the articles one-at-a-time but prevent unintentional removal of multiple quantities of the articles from the carton. In the preferred form, the dispensing opening and closure panel are triangular in shape while the base side of the closure panel is hingedly connected to the front wall to permit reclosing the dispensing opening. Tear lines in the front wall between the edges defining the dispensing opening and the closure panel are provided with complementary, notched, interlocking extensions which frictionally interlock once the closure panel has been torn away from the front wall and reclosed to relock the closure panel in a closed position covering the dispensing opening. One apex of the triangularly shaped closure panel extends over an access opening in the top wall of the carton and, may be torn away to expose such access opening thereby allowing a user to grip the closure panel in order to remove the latter.